GMAT Focus Edition — Critical Reasoning: Inference & Evaluate

Question 1

All employees at Vantex Corp who were hired before 2015 receive a pension. No employee who receives a pension is eligible for the company's stock option program. Maria was hired in 2012. Which of the following can be properly inferred?

• A) Maria has worked at the company longer than any employee hired after 2015.
• B) Maria is not eligible for the stock option program.
• C) Maria has worked at the company for over ten years.
• D) All employees hired before 2015 prefer pensions to stock options.

Question 2

A city official argues that building a new sports stadium downtown will boost the local economy by attracting visitors who will spend money at nearby businesses. Which of the following would be most useful to know in order to evaluate this argument?

• A) How much the stadium will cost to build.
• B) Whether the stadium's design includes enough parking spaces.
• C) Whether visitor spending at the stadium itself will substitute for spending they would have done elsewhere in the local economy anyway.
• D) What other cities have named their stadiums.

Question 3

Every certified arborist has passed a rigorous exam on tree biology. No one who has passed this exam believes that topping (cutting back a tree's main branches) is a healthy pruning practice. Which of the following must be true?

• A) No certified arborist believes topping is a healthy pruning practice.
• B) Everyone who believes topping is unhealthy is a certified arborist.
• C) Topping is never used by professional landscapers.
• D) The exam covers only pruning practices.

Question 4

A pharmaceutical company claims its new pain reliever works faster than the leading competitor based on a lab study measuring how quickly the drug dissolves in a test tube. Which of the following would be most important to determine in evaluating whether this claim supports faster real-world pain relief?

• A) The price of the new pain reliever compared to the competitor.
• B) Whether faster dissolving in a test tube corresponds to faster absorption and pain relief in the human body.
• C) How long the company has been developing the drug.
• D) Whether the drug has FDA approval.

Question 5

Every painting in the museum's east wing was created before 1900. No painting created before 1900 in the museum's collection has been restored using digital techniques. Which of the following can be properly inferred?

• A) No painting in the east wing has been restored using digital techniques.
• B) All paintings restored using digital techniques are in the west wing.
• C) The east wing contains the museum's oldest paintings.
• D) Digital restoration techniques did not exist before 1900.

Question 6

In the past decade, every company that adopted a four-day work week reported increased employee retention. However, none of these companies operated in industries requiring 24/7 customer support. Which of the following can be most properly inferred from these statements?

• A) A four-day work week always increases employee retention.
• B) Companies requiring 24/7 customer support cannot adopt a four-day work week.
• C) The available evidence about the four-day work week's effect on retention does not include companies requiring 24/7 customer support.
• D) Employee retention is more important than customer support.